Transfer and method for its preparation and use

ABSTRACT

The invention falls within the sector of techniques for transferring onto a wall or other support medium ornamental, decorative or advertising motifs. According to the invention, a coating consisting of a solution of a thermoplastic resin ( 12 ) is spread on one side of a base film ( 11 ) made of plastic material and decorative ornamental subjects ( 14 ) are printed in thermoplastic resin coating ( 12 ) and a protective covering ( 15 ) is applied onto the printed part. If required, a layer of acrylic or vinyl color ( 13 ) may be spread on the thermoplastic resin coating ( 12 ). The article comprises all the elements described and combined as described in the preparation method.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of transferable articles,i.e., to the technique of transferring onto a wall or other supportmedium ornamental, decorative, advertising and other such subjects ormotifs.

More particularly, the invention relates to a method for preparing andarranging in position, by means of transfer, such transferable articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Already known are transferable articles and techniques for effectingtransfer onto a wall or other surface, which, however, use paper orplastic sheets as a support medium for decorative, advertising and othersuch subjects.

WO-A-94/09983 discloses a flexible decorative sheet for use in surfacingan automobile body panel comprising a first removable carrier sheet, aclear coat, a tie coat, a color coat, an adhesive layer covered by asecond removable sheet and designed to be applied to the panel.

EP A-0569921 discloses a self-adhesive decorative surface coveringmaterial comprising a removable casting substrate, an elastomeric filmwhich may be back printed with a decorative design, and an adhesivelayer for the applying of the article on a surface.

In the above documents the decoration is applied to the support (panelor wall) through an adhesive and is covered by a protective film, whichis not removable and gives to the cover a “Scotch-tape effect” becausethe decoration is on the back of a film and it is seen through thetransparent protective film so the colors result altered.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a new method forpreparing transferable articles and transferring them onto any surfacewhich may be used on an industrial level, using materials which can beeasily found and are relatively low-cost, with a high degree ofreliability in terms of results and with an above average performance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Said object will be described more fully in the continuation of thedescription provided with reference to the accompanying drawing in whichthe sole

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a portion of an article withseparable parts which are partially detached.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With the method proposed herein, referring to FIG. 1, using certain rawmaterials and by means of an industrial manufacturing process, it ispossible to obtain decorative, advertising and other such articles 10which are made transferable owing to a specific combination ofcomponents on a base and support film 11.

These components comprise, starting from said base film 11, a coating 12of thermoplastic resin solution, if necessary, a layer of acrylic orvinyl color 13, a printed motif 14 with typographical colors, and asuperficial protective covering 15.

The base film 11 may be a thin continuous sheet, ribbon or veil ofplastic material such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC),polyvinyl acetate or the like, suitable for being positioned and used inmachines of the conventional type such as those for printing wallpaperor the like.

The resin solution for coating 12 is applied using industrial systems.It is prepared, for example, by dissolving the resin in denatured ethylalcohol in a proportion of 1:3. Among others, PVAc (polyvinyl acetate)resin, for example the product marketed by the Wacker Chemic Divisionunder the name “VINNAPAS B60”, is preferable as the thermoplastic resin.The alcohol in the solution has the properties of preventing thewater-repellent action of the resin, making it suitable for subsequentlyreceiving the acrylic or vinyl layer 13 which may be of a color.

The layer 13 may not be required and, in any case, may form part of theensuing printing process. This acrylic or vinyl layer 13, when used, isspread over the resin coating 12 after the latter has dried on the basefilm 11. The acrylic or vinyl layer, for this application, may bewater-emulsified in a proportion of about 50% and is used as a base andbackground for subsequent printing thereon of the desired motifs orsubjects 14. It is preferably white, unless a colored background isrequired at this stage, i.e., prior to printing. For the same purpose,moreover, an acrylic or vinyl resin alone may also be used, i.e.,without pigment and exclusively as a binder.

It should be noted that the combination of the acrylic or vinyl layer 13with the thermoplastic resin 12, in particular, PVAc resin, dissolved inethyl alcohol, in addition to a “screening” action, reinforcing thewhole assembly, ensures that the latter is able to withstand the rapidand demanding drying cycles (above 60° C.) required for the subsequentprocess of printing decorative, advertising or similar subjects orimages 14.

Printing is performed continuously, with typographical colors, also inquadrichromatic print, using flexographic or other printing machines orelse by means of the silk-screen process. The material thus printed iswound up on a bobbin and the latter is then transferred to a machinewhich performs bonding of the protective covering 15 on the printedsurface. Such a covering 15 may consist of a very thin “veil” ofnon-woven fabric and bonding thereof onto the printed surface may beperformed using a reversible bonding agent which comprises an adhesivewhich is reversible in aqueous solutions. For example, the reversiblebonding agent may be based on methyl cellulose (such as, for example,normal Metylan or special Metylan produced by Henkel), if necessary inan aqueous solution in a ratio of 3:1. In addition, another type ofreversible bonding agent may be used according to the present invention.

This very thin covering 15 of non-woven fabric, applied onto the printedsurface using a water-reversible bonding agent, in addition to providinga protective screening makes it possible to “imprison”, as it were, thedecorative layer consisting of the combination of the underlying resincoating 12, the background layer of vinyl or acrylic color layer 13 andthe print 14 performed thereon, separating it from the base film 11 forapplying the material prepared using the method described onto anysurface or support medium to be decorated.

The article may be marketed both with the base film 11 still attachedthereto, in which case this film will be removed by the personperforming the laying operation, and without the base film, in whichcase the printed part remains attached to the covering 15.

The application of the decorative material once removed from the basefilm is performed by means of bonding onto the wall, wood or othersupport medium. For bonding it is possible to use suitable glues of anytype, such as “evalit” (trademark) and “Metylan special” in water in aproportion of 3:1, spread on the uncovered side of the material, i.e.,onthe side from which the base film has been removed. The application ofthe material onto the support medium concerned is performed as forwallpaper onto walls, wood, etc.

Finally, once drying has occurred (after at least 6-7 hours) thecovering of non-woven fabric 15 is moistened, until it may be detached,leaving free the decorative subject or motif thus transferred onto thesupport medium.

The nature and proportions of the products mentioned above are onlyillustrative and may be varied in accordance with requirements withoutthereby departing from the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transfer article for transferring to a supportmedium decorative subjects comprising, in order, a removable plasticbase film; a polyvinyl resin coating layer wherein the polyvinyl resinis formed by dissolving the resin in alcohol; a printed motif layer; awater-reversible adhesive layer comprising methyl cellulose; aprotective, water-permeable removable covering comprising a non-wovenfabric; wherein the printed motif layer is the outermost layer once thetransfer article is applied to the support medium and the protectivecovering is removed.
 2. Transfer article as in claim 4, furthercontaining a background layer comprised of an acrylic or vinyl resin,wherein the background layer is located between the polyvinyl resincoating layer and the printed motif layer, and wherein the backgroundlayer is formed by emulsification in water.
 3. Transfer article as inclaim 2, wherein: the removable plastic base film is formed of one ofpolyethylene, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polyvinyl acetate. 4.Transfer article as in claim 2, wherein the acrylic or vinyl backgroundlayer is formed by emulsifying the water in a proportion of about 50%.5. Transfer article as in claim 1, wherein the alcohol is denaturedethyl alcohol.
 6. Transfer article as in claim 5, wherein the polyvinylresin is formed by dissolving the resin in the denatured ethyl alcoholin a proportion of 1:3.
 7. A method for preparing and applying anornamental, decorative article onto a support medium, the methodcomprising the steps of: providing a removeable plastic base film;applying a polyvinyl resin coating layer onto the base film, thepolyvinyl resin being formed by dissolving the resin In alcohol;allowing the polyvinyl resin coating layer to dry; applying a printedmotif layer to the polyvinyl resin coating layer; applying awater-reversible adhesive layer to the printed motif layer, the adhesivelayer comprising methyl cellulose; applying on the adhesive layer aremovable, protective, water-permeable covering layer comprising anon-woven fabric; and applying the transfer article to the supportmedium and removing the protective covering layer to expose the printedmotif layer as the outermost layer of the transfer article.
 8. Method asin claim 6, further comprising the step of: applying a background layerbetween the polyvinyl resin coating layer and the printed motif layer,the background layer comprised of an acrylic or vinyl resin and isformed by emulsification in water.